Whitetail Woods were as quiet and peaceful as ever. This didn’t sit right with Trixie. Not at all. She had grown up in the bustle of the city. This mare was used to hearing all sorts of sounds and voices ringing in her ears. Being out in the country was always strange for her. After going through her inquisitorial training, anything strange made the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. As she surveyed the peaceful woods, she prepared herself to draw her sword at a moment’s notice.
“As you can see,” Officer Pokey Pierce started to speak up. Trixie hadn’t much time to think of him, but he seemed trustworthy enough. “The woods are secure as they can be.”
“And yet there was a monster attack in this very spot,” Trixie snorted. “With traces of….’
“Chaos magic,” Dot said. He had been rather quiet, glaring at Pokey Pierce the whole trip to the woods. Cato was taking notes whenever he could. His posture was erect and trying to be threatening. However, he was still a human child so it didn’t work.
‘Awww, he’s trying to impress me. That’s so cute~ No, no I will be professional. I will snuggle my little one later.’ Trixie thought to herself. “How thoroughly did you check these woods after this happened? The reports are rather vague on the time and effort of this operation.”
“About a day’s search,” Pokey answered.
Trixie quirked an eyebrow, “Only a day?”
“It was called off due to no evidence,” Pokey stated.
Trixie scowled, “That is unprofessional. The Great and Powerful Inquisitor Trixie-”
“I,” Dot spoke up.
Trixie glared at him, “I won’t stand for this lazy stance on what should be an effective fighting force. I want every inch of these woods searched and even if it takes all week. I want results and so does the Equestrian Parliament. There are many officials who are rather… perturbed to know that ‘nothing’ is causing all these disasters.”
“The Chief isn’t going to like it,” Pokey shook his head.
“He doesn’t have to like it,” Trixie sneered. “And bring Thunderlane’s troops as well. The both of them should find something.” Pokey saluted and trotted off. “Honestly, this is sloppy every which way I slice it. Either the ponies of this town are completely idiotic-”
“Or there is a bit of corruption at play here,” Dot finished what she was thinking. “So what’s the plan?”
“Cato will be attending the school to keep an eye on the children,” Trixie explained.
“What?” Cato’s eyes widened. “But Master, I don’t need to do that. I want to be by your side.”
Trixie held up a hoof to shush him, “This is an important job, Cato. Only you can pull this off. Children are loose lips waiting to spill their family’s secrets. I need you to be there if one of them does so. Understood?”
Cato snapped to attention and saluted, “Yes ma’am.”
Trixie returned the salute and then dismissed it, “Good. Cato and I shall check the town and interview a few ponies that Canterlot seem to find suspicious.” She smiled which looked a little threatening.
“You know,” Dot spoke up. “You have a rather creepy smile.” Trixie glared at him only to receive a boop to the nose. “Never said it wasn’t cute too.” She blushed and huffed, walking off. Dot made a show of watching her butt swing idly side to side. “Probably should watch the hayburgers, but again, not complaining~” He ducked when a pistol shot whizzed by his head and laughed.
“Mister Dot?” Cato blinked in confusion. “Why are you laughing? She shot at you?”
“Well my dear boy,” Dot chuckled. “Love is a very strange thing. She likes to almost kill me with it from time to time.”
“Remind me never to be in love,” Cato shook his little head.
Dot snorted and rubbed the top of his head, “Don’t knock it till you try it, kid.”
______________________________________________________
Sunset Shimmer never wanted a day to end sooner. She was a princess of Equestria. She should be doing what she wanted to do, yet she was dragged to a crummy little bar by two maniacs against her will. She groaned as she saw Lyra and Twilight sit at the front bar. ‘Please mom, stop these mares. They are driving me to consider drinking.’
“Alright,” Berry Punch, the owner of this place, put two full glasses of alcohol before the pair. “Here you go. Just don’t destroy my bar while you’re drinking. That especially goes for you, Lyra.” She glared at the green unicorn who had the decency to at least shy away in embarrassment.
“In my defense,” Lyra spoke up. “You make one hay of a beer.” She chuckled and started to down her glass.
“Ooooh~” Twilight giggled and stared at her drink. “Trixie never lets me have any alcohol. Not since that one time I sunk Atlantis.”
“But Atlantis doesn’t exist,” Sunset piped up.
“Yep,” Twilight giggled. “Not anymore it doesn’t.” She took a large swig of her drink and let out a satisfied gasp. It was at that moment, everyone in the bar stood still. They watched and waited for what would happen. “You know, that’s….” Her eye’s widened and suddenly her body exploded into sparkling dust. Her legs and head bounced around the room for a moment, scaring the daylights out of many and scaring them out the door. Then her parts bounced into her seat and she was whole once more. “AWESOME!” She giggled.
Lyra laughed and slapped her back, “I knew you’d love it. Another!” She slammed her hoof into the bar, breaking it. She sheepishly smiled as Berry Punch glared at the duo.
“Lyra,” Berry growled. “Stop breaking my bar!”
“Oops?” Lyra shrugged, unsure of what to say to the mare. From what Sunset had heard, Berry was crazy strong. Perhaps Apple levels of it. It was either genetics or her alcohol was so good it gave her super strength. Either way, after throwing out a roving band of minotaurs single handedly a month before Sunset arrived ensured no one would try to cross her.
Sunset groaned, ‘Why? Why did this have to happen to me? Is it because I’m the Element of Friendship, I mean Magic. MAGIC! Not Friendship, even though mom sort of says they are the same thing. GAH!’ She held her head in her hooves as a headache started to form.
It was at that moment that the doors swung open. A pink earth pony walked into the place, wearing what seemed to be mercenary gear. “Hey, I’m looking for a clothe shop, mmkay? Does anyone know where I can find one, because I’ve been looking all over this Celestia damned place for it.”
Sunset’s eyes widened, ‘This is my chance to escape and I can make a friendship report about this. Helping a stranger find a boutique… granted, I’m going to have to word it properly later, but still.’ “I know where it is!” Sunset shot out of her chair and rushed over to the mare. “What’s your name?”
“Suri-”
“Great,” Sunset eagerly pushed her out of the bar. “So sorry, Twilight. We’ll have to meet later. Gotta go, bye!” With that, the duo were outside.
“Awww, and I even ordered her a drink.” Twilight pouted and poured it into her mane… which let the liquid dance over the hair for a few seconds before funneling down to her mouth.
Berry Punch sighed, “I’m never, ever drunk enough to deal with what goes on in this town.”
Outside, Sunset let out a sigh of relief. “You don’t know how happy I am to see you.”
Suri snorted, “You were using me to get away from your friends.”
Sunset cringed, “Friends is pushing it. More like acquaintances. I don’t have a lot of friends at the moment and that’s fine.”
“Or maybe you just don’t want to classify them as friends,” Suri stated. “Nevermind, I shan’t pry. You’re just lucky to have friends in the first place.”
Sunset quirked an eyebrow, “You don’t have friends?” Sunset felt a tinge of irony as she asked. Not just a few weeks ago, friendship was something she thought a pony could do without.
“On the road a lot with my Teacher,” Suri stated.
“Who’s your teacher?” Sunset asked.
“A griffon.”
Sunset tensed up, “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you correctly. Did you say you were taught by a griffon?”
Suri nodded, “Does that bother you?”
“Do you know what griffons are like?” Sunset snorted. “They eat us, Suri. They kill whoever they feel like all the time. They are no better then dogs.”
Suri grit her teeth, “Who are you to speak about griffons? Have you ever met one?”
Sunset rolled her eyes, “Met a few when my mother went on her trips to see them. None of it impressed me or gave me any other reason to think otherwise.”
“No one gives a damn about those mainland griffons,” Suri snarled. “But not every griffon is like them. How would you feel like it if people feared you without meeting you beforehand?”
Sunset opened her mouth to respond, but then remembered how many ponies seemed to treat her back in the old days. Hay, she remembered how they still treat Twilight Sparkle. Even though she found her annoying, she didn’t agree with how mean spirited some folks treated chaos ponies. “I didn’t like it.”
Suri frowned, “Had a bad reputation?”
“When you tend to set ponies on fire-” Sunset sighed. “-you tend to garner one.”
Suri chuckled, “I can imagine.”
Sunset frowned as she knew she was supposed to apologize. It felt like she was going to throw up, “I’m…. sorry.” She almost gagged on the word. It was just so unusual to say, even after all this time.
“Don’t be,” Suri rolled her eyes. “I’m used to it.” The two kept walking for a bit, “How often did you-”
“All the time.”
Suri laughed, “I can’t believe they let you live in a town with wood buildings.”
Sunset smirked, “I can’t believe it either, but here I am. Stuck in a crummy town in the middle of nowhere. If it wasn’t for my friends, I wouldn’t ever want to stay in a place like this.”
“I honestly prefer the bustle of large cities myself,” Suri spoke. “There’s always something going on to keep my interest.”
Sunset nodded. It wasn’t long before they came across Rarity’s boutique. “So we’re here. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
Suri nodded, “Same to you, Miss…”
“Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset beamed. “Princess Sunset Shimmer.”
Suri’s eyes widened slightly, before she smiled. “It was an honor meeting with you, Princess. Maybe we can talk for a bit later.” She walked to the door, “By the way, it’s Polomare. Suri Polomare. You gave me your full name. I’ll do the same.”
Sunset grinned as she walked away. She felt a little giddy as she skipped along, ‘Eee, I did something nice. Now I can just write a report and I should be good for a week. This friendship thing is a piece of cake.’